


A Cursed Miracle

by demonfox38



Series: DLC from DF38 [2]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23332804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonfox38/pseuds/demonfox38
Summary: Fate, luck, and Zelos Wilder are all obnoxious to Sheena Fujibayashi. Damn them all that they just had to spare her.
Series: DLC from DF38 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677937
Kudos: 1





	A Cursed Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by an anonymous user from Tumblr with the prompt "A miracle would be useful" on October 12th, 2015.

The worst part about falling was that it gave her time to think about how she had failed.

In her palms were the powers of the gods. They had stripped the mana from her blood, left a crumpled husk to crash to the ground. How far was she going to fall? How far up was she? If she had made it back to Welgaia, this wouldn’t be a problem. She’d just go floating off. But, no. She had to be dumb enough not to ask for help. Dumb enough to think she’d survive the smack at the bottom of the pit. Dumb enough to think Martel would forgive her for the abomination she had made of the Giant Kharlan Tree.

Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid!

The ninja dug her fingers into the roots around her, swallowing as they became thicker. What if she never reached the bottom of the shaft? Maybe she’d get tangled up in their branches and vines. If that thing on the end of her ankle kept pulling, even as she was stuck—well, maybe she’d get to see Corrine sooner than she thought. Apologize to him for being so stupid.

Sheena cried as her nails split, bark driving between them. Cowardly, too! That was one she had forgotten. If she could have thrown her pride aside, humiliated herself enough to ask for help—oh, but that would mean admitting she was in trouble, wouldn’t it? Heaven forbid that she accept a man’s help! It made things so simple, to put the group’s safety first. To think of Colette’s well-being. That was how Regal was able to throw his life away so easily. And there was Sheena, never one to be shown up by another man!

Her lips curled as she hissed and gasped. Maniacal laughter broke her pity. Maybe she was stupid and haughty, but she was going to die with a smile on her face and fire in her hands. She wouldn’t give Yggdrasil the satisfaction of her final, agonized scream. She’d have two fingers raised for all the hurt Kratos had put Lloyd through. And Zelos—that stupid, stupid Chosen that had the world in his hands—

She couldn’t damn him again. Not after all they had been through.

Of all the people she wanted to hate the most, it had to be Zelos. He had always been so flippant and carefree, as serious as sunshine in his somber role. If anyone could have had empathy with Colette, it was Zelos. He knew what she was going to suffer. Had this been another time, another country, he would have been the lamb sacrificed to a tyrant’s wicked nostalgia. Not her. Why he’d turn his back on any woman and put her in the line of fire, Sheena didn’t understand. She hoped it was for something good, despite it all.

Sheena was very, very stupid like that.

She lost her mind and courage in a twist of black, brown, and green. Her intelligence didn’t matter now. Neither did her strength. They were both stripped away. All she had now was a little flicker in her gut, mana that would never pull the spirits from the aether. She let that inner fire take over her mind. Words went silent on her lips, her burned fingers now twitching to pull any last help she could get.

Like those more faithful than she would ever be, she prayed for intervention and salvation.

A fiery miracle surrounded her.

Undignified shrieking left her instead of her summoning mantras. Her eyes flared open, stomach rolling. She had stopped! All around her was orange fire, a soft warmth. It wasn’t Efreet’s arms that had taken her, nor Aska’s wings. It was something more impossible that even the gods.

If she could have unclenched her fingers from his vest, she would have punched her guardian angel right in the face. “Yo, hunny!”

“Zelos!” Sheena screamed. “What in the hell are you—”

“Can’t talk! Trying to save you!” Lies. All lies. Stupid Sheena accepted them. She clung to Zelos as he kicked off from the walls, raced up the shaft’s abyss. Vines reached for the flames sprouting from his back. Her eyes bulged again at the flash of embers pouring out of him. For the first time, he looked something like an actual Chosen. Warm, bright, wondrous—a gift from heaven.

The ninja gasped. “You’ve got wings.”

“Try not to be jealous!” Zelos laughed.

“No! I mean—” Sheena choked on her own tongue. “They’re beautiful.”

The redhead howled with laughter. “What’s this? My hunny’s complimenting me? Could it be that you’ve finally fallen for my—”

She punched him in the gut. “Would you just shut up and save me?”

Wincing, the chosen pulled out of the darkness, coiled upside-down and around his friend. “Guess I can’t hope for a miracle, huh?”


End file.
